Getting younger kids into Oceaneer's Lab?

[ArataCPA]

Hello everyone!

My DS is 7 years old, and I would like to find out if it is an option to enroll him in the older Oceaneer's Lab. Although he won't be 8 year old (minimum age for Lab) as of cruise time (we are cruising in May, he won't be 8 for another 7 months at that time); I feel as if he would enjoy the Lab more than the younger Oceaneer's Club because the activities offered in the Lab are more like what he does on a day to day basis. Also, we sailed last year and he has already had the chance to experience the activities in the Oceaneer's Club.

Thanks in advance for your replies and suggestions!

 

[PiperG]

It seems like the kids in the 5 - 7 age grouping spend a lot of timein the lab. You might want to go out to one of the sites that house navigators such as dcltribute.com or castawayclub.com (I think this is Barb's site) to take a look. The navigators describe the activity and indicate where it takes place.

DS6 (almost 7) did a variety of lab activities such as "gasses in action" and "flubber." Later in the evening, they always transitioned back to the club for movie time, where the counselors laid out cots.

 

[CheapMom]

My son will be 2-3 weeks shy of 8th bday at cruise time- I am all but counting on the fact that he can use the lab. He will want to be with his sister (9) and it seems like a far more appropriate place for him than the place for little ones. Will I have trouble with this?

 

[Dreamer04]

CheapMom, there should be no problem. If a child is within a month of turning the age that would move them into another age bracket, they can go to either group.

 

[CB4U]

Hi,

I am not sure how this works either. I can tell you that last year when we sailed my son was 6 wks shy of his 13th birthday and he wanted to participate with the teen club (he is the youngest of all his peers - a summer baby). I spoke with the teen counselors in the then Common Grounds and they told me they would like to meet him. After taking a look at my very tall 12 year old, they let him in. The counselors informed us that they had room in the teen club for that particular sailing. I am assuming they were looking for maturity and whether there was occupancy available for that week. I do think however that being that far away from his next birthday will decrease your chances of moving him up. I think DCL is pretty strict about the age groups.

Hope this helps.

 

[ArataCPA]

Thank you so much for your reply CB4U, that helps : ).

 

[Nysie]

We asked this same question last year and we were told that the younger one could not move up, but the older one could move down.I know my oldest dd wouldn't want to move down a level! We decided to wait a year until they could be together. Some kids are much more mature than their age, so maybe that will help move your younger one up.It doesn't hurt to try!!

 

[dis4me]

On Our third DCL cruise one dd was going on 8 the other going on 7 andwe asked if they could move up because they had done the 5-7 group twice already. They toldus eah case was evaluated individually but they would give it a try. Well once my dds took a look at the navigator for the 8-9 the thought they would prefer staying in the 5-7 to use the captain's closet etc(much more appealing to girls) so they stayed. The next cruise I asked them wha they wanted to so as one was 8 and the other almost 8 and they both chose to move up. This was no problem as my dd was 6 weeks shy of 8.
Anyway it can't hurt to try. The only thing that annoyed my younger dd is they made her walk around with a 7 on her name tag and she knew that if it wasn't working out they would move her down.
Also it depends on how many kids are in each age group. If the 8-9's are ful they have no choice but to say NO.

 

[kcashner]

DCL is very strict about their age requirements. If a child is within 30 days of the next birthday, they may move to the older age group with permission of the counsellors and the parent. More than 30 days out, it will not happen. We did 9 DCL cruises. DD was in the Club for the first one, then 8 times in the Lab. The last time, she very much wanted to move up. We were politely told, "no way" even though this is a very mature kid who attends classes at a local university.

On cruise 10, she was allowed in the Stack as she was turning 13 on that cruise.

All along, I felt that DCL policies were there for good reason, and I'm glad she was required to wait. That having been said, the 5-7s spend a good amount of time in the lab, the 10-12s "invaded" Common Grounds (before it became The Stack) in the mornings before the teens were there.

Bottom line, a 7 1/2 year old will not be allowed in the 8 -9 programs.

 

[staceymerrill]

We are also on the May 13,th Cruise... and I also have a DS who is almost 8 yrs old.. He will be 8 ,, June 13th(one month from our sailing ) so he is also hoping to be in the Oceaneers Lab.Maybe they can meet and have fun together !

 

[princess4491]

just tell the cast that he is 8.that is what i did with my child.

 

[mobetsy]

I think that they probably have a list of every child's birthdate, don't they? Also, I sure wouldn't want to spend the cruise worrying that my 7.5 y.o. child would "spill the beans" (or know that I'd lied) and get booted...embarrassing for all involved.

 

[crisi]

They have his birthday when you register. And if you've ever taken a Disney vacation before. And you do need to travel with his birth certificate or passport - they checked our children's birthdates on their passport against registration information when we checked in. If you got by with lying, you were lucky or they decided to let it slide.

As to being strict, I'm not so sure. Our dinner mates had a four year old turning five in July who wanted to be with his brother. He was allowed into the five to seven age group - and five months is a lot younger than thirty days. I think it probably does depend on maturity of your child and availability of space as well as the reason for wanting to move.

 

[CB4U]

I would be very cautious about moving a child to another age group without the ok from the Disney counselors. Keep in mind if there were ever any mishaps (not that I have ever heard of one), any responsibility may lie with the parents. Can you tell I use to work in a law firm?

Just something to consider....

 

[reddaddy04]

Sorry to disagree with a couple of the posts here but we just returned from our first Dis cruise and not only were we able to move DD7 up to the lab even though she won't be 8 until November but they allowed DD2 to go to the Oceaneer's club even though she won't be 3 until May and according to their "strict" rules should have been in the Nursery. And this was on a FULL cruise (feb 14 Western.)

Just ask NICELY, and have a positive attitude! (apologies to anyone who hasn't been successful...)

 

[ArataCPA]

Reddaddy,
Thanks for your reply. Who did you have to speak with to do this? Did you just ask the counselors in the Club/Lab, or did you have to speak with a "higher-up"?

 

[val2001]

I am also hoping very much that my dd7 will be allowed to go in with her friend who is 8. She will still be almost 3 months from her 8 bday, but is VERY mature and looks like a 9 year old.

I will try asking nicely and also have them give her a "trial run". I know they will think she's much more mature than most 7 yo. However, if it doesn't fly and they refuse to let them both in the 8 yo group, I have already had a talk with her saying not to let it spoil our trip and to just try to "go with the flow" and make the best of the situation if she has to stay in the lower age group.